


water me

by mostlyunstablefangirl



Series: water me [1]
Category: Euphoria (TV 2019)
Genre: F/F, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Screenplay/Script Format
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:34:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25003975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mostlyunstablefangirl/pseuds/mostlyunstablefangirl
Summary: waking up from an overdose isn't great. waking up from an overdose to find that you're seven years in the future is a little better, but still shocking.
Relationships: Rue Bennett/Lexi Howard
Series: water me [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1869319
Comments: 8
Kudos: 67





	water me

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this as a screenplay because I LOVE the cinematography and music of Euphoria. Plus, I was reminded that fanfic is usually frowned upon when it's written in first-person. But I still wanted bits of Rue's voice to come in.

**EXT. RUE’S LAWN -- DAY**

RUE wakes up and feels her chest to find it intact.

[TRACK: OPTIMUS PRIME by BIG YAVO.]

She looks around dazedly. She stands up and brushes herself off.

Rue reaches for the doorknob to find it locked. She raises her fist and taps twice.

KNOCK ON DOOR [TRACK FADES OUT.]

Rue waits a moment, but there’s no answer.

RUE  
Mom, open the door, I can explain.

AN ASIAN-AMERICAN WOMAN opens the door. She looks around confusedly, scanning the street behind Rue. She goes to close the door.

RUE  
Hey, wait a minute--

DOOR SLAMS

  
  


**EXT. ALLEY BETWEEN STORAGE UNITS IN LOS ANGELES**

[TRACK: OPTIMUS PRIME by BIG YAVO continued.]

RUE is walking exactly down the middle of the road in the gutter.

RUE (VOICEOVER)  
At first, I wondered if my mom had caught me high on the lawn the night before and was doling out some form of cruel and unusual punishment. By planting a stranger at our house and not letting me come inside. So, I went to the place I’d always go in childhood when I was locked out of the house.

  
  


**EXT. HOWARDS’ HOUSE**

CASSIE is exiting the house, phone in hand. RUE attempts to make eye contact with her. Cassie doesn’t notice and continues conversing on the phone.

Cassie loads a canvas bag into her trunk. Rue approaches and stands directly in front of Cassie. Cassie doesn’t acknowledge her.

CASSIE  
Yeah, I’m on my way right now.

Rue waves in her peripheral. Cassie doesn’t look up.

RUE (V.O.)  
So, it turned out I was functionally invisible. I was used to lucid dreaming by this point, and I’d had a number of wild trips. I guessed I just had to ride this one out.

Rue climbs into the trunk of Cassie’s SUV and folds her knees into her chest.

RUE (V.O.)  
I guess I noticed that Cassie looked kind of different, but I didn’t think much of it. I was also kind of banking on us driving to Lexi’s house, since the sisters were basically inseparable.

  
  


**EXT. LOS ANGELES RENTAL HOUSE**

RUE follows CASSIE up to the doorstep of the house and knocks on the door.

LEXI opens the door looking gorgeous.

[TRACK: FOREVER by LABYRINTH.]

Zooms in on Lexi’s smiling face.

Zooms in on Rue looking mesmerized.

  
  


**INT. LOS ANGELES RENTAL HOUSE**

[TRACK: FOREVER by LABYRINTH continued.]

RUE follows CASSIE inside. Cassie sets down her bags.

LEXI waits patiently to the side.

LEXI  
Have you eaten yet? Do you want breakfast?

RUE (V.O.)  
I certainly did.

CASSIE  
Sure.

OLDER RUE emerges from another room disheveled.

Rue's mouth drops open.

Zooms to highlight Older Rue’s toned physique, muscular arms, and rugged tattoos covering her biceps.

OLDER RUE  
I’ll make pancakes if anyone wants some.

Older Rue looks past Lexi and Cassie to see Rue standing there. She pauses, eyes widening.

Rue looks equally startled to have someone make eye contact with her.

LEXI  
Rue? What’s wrong?

OLDER RUE  
Uh, nothing. I just realized I should’ve cleaned the blinds.

LEXI  
(to Cassie)  
So, what did he say after you told him you were looking for something serious?

Older Rue retreats to another room.

  
  


**INT. KITCHEN**

OLDER RUE is whisking pancake batter in a bowl. She clears her throat at RUE.

RUE approaches and lingers nearby, hesitant.

OLDER RUE  
We can’t let them know you’re here.

RUE  
(sarcastic)  
Really? I was just planning on revealing myself. You know, in my past body, to people from the future.

  
  


**INT. KITCHEN**

LEXI enters. RUE remains in the corner of the kitchen.

CASSIE  
(offscreen)  
Bye, Rue, thank you for breakfast!

OLDER RUE dries her hands on a towel as Lexi walks up to her.

OLDER RUE  
Was the guy wanting to date her?

LEXI  
(whispering)  
Yeah, it sounds like it.

Lexi leans up and kisses Older Rue on the lips. The kiss is lingering and sensual.

Rue’s face conveys panic and shock. She grasps at the counter beside her as if she is unsure where to turn.

[TRACK: SMELLS LIKE SEX by SIZZY ROCKET.]

Lexi takes Older Rue by the waist and presses her into the counter. Older Rue kisses her deeply.  
Slowly, Lexi reaches for the zipper of Older Rue’s jeans.

Zooms in on their kissing, and it becomes obvious that Lexi’s arm is thrusting towards Older Rue.

Rue’s mouth drops open and she turns around, with occasional peeking back to check on the scene.

  
  


**INT. KITCHEN**

LEXI withdraws from OLDER RUE.

RUE stands at the side clutching the counter with her eyes wide open.

LEXI  
You gonna take a shower with me?

OLDER RUE  
I think I’m gonna go work out before I shower. You go ahead without me.

LEXI  
Suit yourself.

Lexi retreats to another room.

RUE  
Are you fucking kidding me?

OLDER RUE  
Come on. We’re going for a drive.

  
  


**INT. OLDER RUE’S CAR**

[TRACK: BLUEBERRY FAYGO by LIL MOSEY.]

OLDER RUE drives while RUE rides shotgun.

RUE  
So are we just not gonna talk about how you’re--we’re--dating Lexi now?

OLDER RUE  
Do you want to talk about it?

RUE  
What about Jules? Weren’t we, like, in love with her?

OLDER RUE  
Infatuated with her. That’s the thing about Lexi. Being with Jules was like being on drugs. Being with Lexi is like eating a really fucking good Caesar salad.

RUE  
That’s bullshit.

OLDER RUE  
Yeah? Have you noticed how I look like a million bucks? Or how Mom isn’t in the same house where we OD’d twice?

RUE  
Twice?

OLDER RUE  
Don’t ask questions you’re not ready for.

RUE  
When did I overdose the second time?

OLDER RUE  
After the winter formal.

RUE  
That was last night.

OLDER RUE  
Great. So I’m speaking to myself from rock bottom.

RUE  
Where the hell are Mom and Gia?

OLDER RUE  
Doing great since you went to rehab. Mom remarried, this guy named Aaron--

RUE  
\--Oh, thank God. I thought you were gonna say Rick.

OLDER RUE  
And they moved in together. Gia is doing her first year of college in Oregon. She drinks and does drugs pretty safely, as safely as one can.

RUE  
And...Jules?

OLDER RUE  
Went to fashion school in Manhattan. Couldn’t find work right away, so she came back here to work as an assistant.

RUE  
She’s here?

OLDER RUE  
I just had sex with my smoking hot girlfriend in front of you, and you’re worried about a girl who ghosts you via train.

RUE  
I can’t help if, in my current life, I’m in love with her.

OLDER RUE  
I guess not.

Older Rue parks and unbuckles her seatbelt.

Rue unbuckles as well.

  
  


**INT. LOS ANGELES RENTAL HOUSE**

OLDER RUE is standing calmly while RUE paces.

OLDER RUE  
This is going to be a lot easier if you get inside of me.

RUE  
I’m sorry, what?

OLDER RUE  
Oh, my God, not like that. If you share my consciousness with me.

RUE  
How exactly do I do that?

Older Rue extends her hand.

Rue hesitates, then touches her hand to Older Rue’s.

Rue dissolves into an outline that intersects with Older Rue. Carefully, she steps her entire outline into Older Rue’s body.

  
  


**INT. LOS ANGELES RENTAL HOUSE, BEDROOM**

OLDER RUE walks into the bedroom, where LEXI lays on her stomach on the bed, examining a book.

RUE (V.O.)  
And just like that, we were one. I could feel everything she felt. I mean, I felt. I could feel everything the older version of me felt.

OLDER RUE  
Hey, baby.

LEXI  
Hi. You still want to drop by your mom’s today?

OLDER RUE  
Mm-hmm. I’ll just shower real quick.

  
  


**INT. BATHROOM**

OLDER RUE opens a cabinet and pours some of the contents of a pill bottle into her hand--one large prescription medicine. She takes the medication and the side of the bottle is revealed to read the name of a well-known bipolar medication.

OLDER RUE  
Not what you were expecting?

RUE (V.O.)  
Not really.

Cut to Older Rue in the shower, washing her arms with care and scented body soap.

RUE (V.O.)  
I’d never really had a sense of hygiene. Or self-care. It surprised me how painstaking I was in the shower.

Older Rue turns off the water and towels her muscular legs.

  
  


**INT. OLDER RUE’S CAR**

[TRACK: BALLIN by PARISALEXA]

OLDER RUE drives with her left hand on the steering wheel. Everything goes in slow motion. The windows are rolled down and the palm trees sway serenely.

LEXI looks over at Older Rue. Her hair and makeup are done now and she looks perfect.

Older Rue places her other hand on Lexi’s thigh.

  
  


**INT. LESLIE’S HOUSE**

LESLIE is scanned up and down by the camera. It shows that she has gained a healthy amount of weight and dresses comfortably in jeans.

OLDER RUE gives her a hug, while LEXI and AARON smile at each other.

LESLIE  
How’s work going?

OLDER RUE  
Oh, it’s really good. Wearing me out for sure.

RUE (V.O.)  
Rue told me later that she worked in shipping and handling.

FLASHBACK: Older Rue tosses packages into the back of the truck. Zooms in on the sheen of sweat on her neck.

RUE (V.O.)  
On the side, she was getting her bachelor’s in social work. She was late to the game, because working out her issues had been a several-year affair.

AARON  
How about you, Lexi? Master’s student extraordinaire?

The camera focuses on Lexi, with her arms clasped in front of her. She nods eagerly.

LEXI  
It’s been good! Rue’s been holding me accountable, like always.

RUE (V.O.)  
It turned out Rue and Lexi were both taking routes inspired by my earlier fuck-ups. Lexi was finishing her master’s in counseling.

FLASHBACK: Lexi studies under lamplight.

FLASHBACK: Lexi converses with a man in a therapist's chair.

RUE (V.O.)  
To help people like me. Her level-headed attitude and general lack of chaos made her good at that.

LESLIE  
Come, sit. Do you want some iced tea?

All four sit at the table laughing.

Older Rue looks over at Lexi.

Lexi is portrayed in perfect lighting, smiling pleasantly at their hosts. She turns at just the right moment to catch Older Rue looking at her.

  
  


**INT. CAR PARKED AT GAS STATION**

[TRACK: BATHWATER by WESLEE.]

OLDER RUE retrieves her card from her wallet.

JULES is revealed to be leaving the gas station general store and returning to her car, parked directly in front of them. She recognizes them, perks up, and walks to their open driver-side window.

JULES  
Hey, guys, what are you up to?

Older Rue’s hand tightens against LEXI’s hand. Lexi smiles tightly at Jules through the window.

OLDER RUE  
Not much, just coming back from my mom’s. How about you?

JULES  
Running some errands for my boss. The usual.

RUE (V.O.)  
Normally I would be overwhelmed by her smile...

Zooms in on Jules’s teeth.

RUE (V.O.)  
...her clothes... 

Zooms in on Jules’s outfit.

RUE (V.O.)  
...even her smell.

Zooms in on Older Rue’s arm resting against the open window. She takes her bicep away and draws it inside the car.

RUE (V.O.)  
But in Rue’s body, I just felt a general sense of unease. Mistrust. And, above all, concern for Lexi.

  
  


**INT. LOS ANGELES RENTAL HOUSE, BEDROOM**

OLDER RUE steps into the room. LEXI is faced away from her, trailing fingers across the bedspread.

Older Rue touches Lexi’s elbow to get her attention, and Lexi turns. Older Rue spins Lexi fully and eases her down onto the bed.

OLDER RUE  
(muttering)  
Get out.

RUE tumbles to the ground to the side of the bed.

LEXI  
Huh?

OLDER RUE  
I mean, get out. You’re not wearing panties?

LEXI  
I can’t have underwear lines.

RUE  
What? You’re going to kick me out at the best part?

OLDER RUE  
Minor.

LEXI  
Minor what?

OLDER RUE  
Minor problem, I have to go to the bathroom.

LEXI  
Okay?

  
  


**INT. BATHROOM**

OLDER RUE walks in calmly, while RUE storms in behind.

RUE  
I thought you wanted to show me what my life was like now.

OLDER RUE  
You’re a--

RUE  
Yeah, I’m a minor, who cares? I’m you. And you let me see the action earlier.

OLDER RUE  
(whispering)  
To be completely honest with you, you don’t deserve to feel what I feel right now. Considering you’re in love with someone else. You’re not in love with my girlfriend, why should you get to fuck her?

  
  


**INT. LOS ANGELES RENTAL HOUSE, BEDROOM**

OLDER RUE returns to the room, and sinks onto her knees, head blocking the view between LEXI’s thighs.

Zooms in on RUE, looking cautiously at the scene before her while Lexi moans in the background.

  
  


**INT. LOS ANGELES RENTAL HOUSE**

PHONE RINGS

OLDER RUE picks up the phone.

OLDER RUE  
Hey, Gia, what’s good?

GIA  
(offscreen)  
Hey, Rue. I just wanted to say hi.

OLDER RUE  
Yeah, whatchu been up to?

GIA  
I’m actually having a hard time in my psychology class... Can you put your girlfriend on the phone?

OLDER RUE  
(chuckling)  
She’s right here.

RUE watches at the side, swallowing thickly and tears developing.

LEXI  
Hey, Gia.

GIA  
Hey, Lexi. Do you know anything about designing questionnaires?

LEXI  
Yeah--

[SOUND FADES OUT.]

Lexi paces the room with the phone to her ear. Rue watches, while Older Rue watches Rue.

  
  


**EXT. LOS ANGELES RENTAL HOUSE -- NIGHT**

RUE is sitting on the patio steps. OLDER RUE settles down beside her.

RUE  
How long did it take you to know?

OLDER RUE  
Since the first time we ever kissed.

RUE  
But she hated the kiss, she was so uncomfortable.

OLDER RUE  
Do you know what demisexual means?

RUE  
Yeah, I think so. Not liking sex unless you like the person.

OLDER RUE  
Right. Lexi doesn’t experience sexual attraction until she feels that the other person has given themselves over to her romantically.

RUE  
Okay, so when did you ‘give yourself over to her romantically?’

OLDER RUE  
She found me after the winter formal. I OD’d again, and she had been on her way to come find me and confess her feelings. I was passed out on the lawn.

FLASHBACK: YOUNG LEXI runs up to motionless Rue and kneels down beside her, looking alarmed.

OLDER RUE  
She was there when I woke up. And when Mom was so angry, she couldn’t look at me for three months. She’s always been there. It took a few weeks for me to forget about what Jules had done. A few months for me to see what was right in front of me.

  
  


**INT. LOS ANGELES RENTAL HOUSE, BEDROOM -- MIDDLE OF NIGHT**

[TRACK: WATER ME by PARISALEXA.]

RUE looks over OLDER RUE and LEXI’s sleeping figures.

She leaves the room.

  
  


**INT. LOS ANGELES RENTAL HOUSE -- MIDDLE OF NIGHT**

[TRACK: WATER ME by PARISALEXA continued.]

RUE tosses and turns on the couch. She can’t sleep.

**INT. LOS ANGELES RENTAL HOUSE -- MORNING**

[TRACK: WATER ME by PARISALEXA continued.]

RUE watches OLDER RUE leave to go on a run. Older Rue jogs by, outside the window.

  
  


**INT. LOS ANGELES RENTAL HOUSE, BEDROOM**

[TRACK: WATER ME by PARISALEXA continued.]

RUE approaches the master bathroom door, hesitating and clutching her arms to herself.

LEXI appears in the doorway, clad in a towel, and drying her hair with another towel. Her eyes are clear and vibrant, rimmed in red from the heat of the shower.

Lexi begins humming to the track playing. It’s revealed that it is playing from a laptop to the side.

Rue steps up to Lexi, examining her more closely.

Lexi pauses, and looks directly ahead of her, confused.

Zooms in on Rue’s fingers clenching and unclenching nervously.

Lexi puts the towel down.

LEXI  
Rue?

Rue’s mouth opens and closes as if to speak.

LEXI  
Is that you?

Rue takes a step back, underestimates the distance to the bed, and falls down against it.

FADE to black.

  
  


**INT. HOSPITAL**

[HEART MONITOR BEEPING]

YOUNGER GIA’s face comes into view.

YOUNGER GIA  
Rue? Rue, oh my God.

YOUNGER LESLIE  
(offscreen)  
Finally, she’s awake.

YOUNGER LESLIE comes into view, looking concerned but not meeting RUE’s eyes.

YOUNGER LEXI stands up from a chair in the corner. Rue is shown sitting in a hospital bed, looking vulnerable in her gown and with various monitors and IVs connected to her.

RUE  
Mom? What happened?

YOUNGER LESLIE  
I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?

YOUNGER LEXI  
You overdosed, Rue. After the formal.

Rue looks around, bewildered.

FADE to rest of episode.


End file.
